It’s hard to avoid digital technology seen as we live in the 21st century. It’s undeniably all around us.

There are many debates about digital learning and how much time children should be spending in front of a screen. Agreeably, there needs to be limitations, but at Thrive we do more than just use a screen based digital technology device, we use digital technology to enhance our teaching.

Views of Digital Learning

Traditional beliefs around digital technology are that it limits children’s social skills, language development and cognitive capabilities, and traditional beliefs proclaim children should have limited screen time. However, children today are born as digital natives, meaning they have been born into a world filled with digital technology. Phones, Tv’s, iPad, Computers, Digital screens all over a shopping mall. So really, digital technology is a natural part of early childhood.

More contemporary, the key concern is how digital technology is being used to enhance teaching and learning.

Integration of Digital Learning

Technology is part of STEM education [the ‘T’ in STEM], and therefore the use of technology supports children’s participation with stem and also prepares them for their evolving future (MacDonald & Rafferty, 2015). The Early Years Learning Framework and the Australian Curriculum support the use of digital technology holistically throughout the curriculum. Ensuring children are confident and capable of navigating digital devices will play a significant role in their participation in society when they are older.

Attitudes

Using digital technology as a teaching and learning tool comes down to the confidence and attitudes of the adults’ supporting children in using it. If you do not feel confident with digital technology, you are less likely to promote it. At Thrive we recognised this, and we ensure all our educator teams are trained in understanding how to appropriately and effectively use digital technology with children.

Integration of Digital Learning

Using Digital Technology with Children aged 3-5 years

At Thrive we use Technology to support Digital Learning, and these are some of the keyways we do it.

Allowing children to have their play filmed than letting the children watch their play, identifying things which were positive, and which were not. This will support children’s social skills, particularly their understanding of fairness, turn taking and inclusion. Through this small experience, children are able to create rules and expectations around social play and build on their own self-awareness
Project work through using the interactive whiteboard for research on key topics of the world. Research is a scientific inquiry and is essential for children’s cognitive development. Allowing children the opportunity to research with the assistance of an educator allows children the understanding of how to navigate the internet to solve problems and answer their queries. This also supports children in learning about their world through video as they can not always see the world through the service locations (e.g., volcanos, waterfalls).

Consideration of Evidence-based Research

At Thrive we use evidence-based practice to ensure we are meeting the developmental needs of children. Therefore, the two key documents we use to guide our practice with children using digital technology includes.

24-hour movement guidelines
Statement on young children and digital technology

The 24-hour movement guidelines outline the national recommendations for children aged birth- 5 years in relation to their physical activity, sedentary activity, and screen time. Using this document Thrive ensures that children are not exceeding the recommended screen time and ensure physical activity is emphasised throughout the day (Department of Health and Aged Care, 2021).

The Statement on young children and digital technology was established to support educators in making decisions regarding digital technologies in their centres.

Within the statement four key areas as emphasized with correlating principles to each area are addressed when using digital technologies. These areas are

Relationships
Health and wellbeing
Citizenship
Play and pedagogy

(ECA, 2018).

The statement outlines that “instead of working towards a one-size-fits-all approach, a contextual approach” is needed where educators work in partnership with families in making decisions about what is best for individual children. Through the use of this statement educators at Thrive have collaborative discussions with all families regarding their beliefs on digital technologies, whilst sharing how the service uses digital technologies with children in a safe and educational way.

References

MacDonald, A. & Rafferty, J. (2015). Investigating mathematics, science and technology in early childhood. Oxford University Press. (Chapter 10).

Department of Health and Aged Care. (2021). 24 Hour Movement Guidliness; For infants, toddlers and preschoolers (birth to 5 years). https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/physical-activity-and-exercise/physical-activity-and-exercise-guidelines-for-all-australians/for-infants-toddlers-and-preschoolers-birth-to-5-years

Early Childhood Australia. (2018). Statement on young children and digital technology. https://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Digital-policy-statement.pdfensure

Undheim. (2022). Children and teachers engaging together with digital technology in early childhood education and care institutions: a literature review. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 30(3), 472–489.

Did you know Australia is one of the most diverse and multicultural countries in the world? 2021 statistics revealed that 27.6 percent of the population were born overseas, and the top 5 languages used at home, other than English, were Mandarin (2.7 per cent), Arabic (1.4 per cent), Vietnamese (1.3 per cent), Cantonese (1.2 per cent) and Punjabi (0.9 per cent). (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021).

What is Cultural Diversity?

Cultural diversity is a variety of cultures, races, ethnicity, and beliefs within a society which is viewed in a harmonious and inclusive way.

As adults, everything we know, we think, we belief, comes from our own culture. The culture is what we know to be true and right, and that culture is passed from generations and established through social contexts and personal experiences. Culture shapes the values and beliefs an individual has on the world (Rasminsky, 2020).

The Importance of Cultural Diversity In Early Childhood?

Living in an evolving world in the 21st century involves being respectful towards others. This is increasingly important within early childhood as the experiences in which children have early on in life shape their perceptions of what is true and right.

Children are like sponges; they see and hear what adults do and they begin to develop their own presumptions about the topics.

This is how cultural competence can be developed in children. However, it is important for all adults to understand the impact in which their role modelling has for young children, as their beliefs, actions and unintentional biases can easily result in the development of stereotyping and prejudice instead.

Becoming Culturally Competent

Being part of a multicultural society involves the understanding of respect towards culture.

As outlined by the EYLF, cultural competence is “being ‘much more than awareness of cultural differences. It is the ability to understand, communicate with, and effectively interact with people across cultures”.

At Thrive we understand it is essential to first identify the individual culture of the staff, families, community and the children to then be able to authentically facilitate cultural competence and cultural education.

Our educators use these reflective questions to reflect on their own culture:

How did your family’s expectations affect what you did?
Were your parents, siblings, and other relatives close or distant?
Were they strict, lenient, or somewhere in between?
Were your school’s expectations any different?

When educators can identify their own culture, they can successfully understand others’ culture.

Traditionally teachers and educators across the country believed it was better to be ‘culture blind’, not recognising or acknowledging any culture within the curricula. However, research has shown us the importance of recognising and acknowledging culture. In doing so educators can be more attuned to their own unintentional biases and avoid prejudice and stereotyping, whilst promoting respect for all.

At Thrive we ensure all of our educators engage in cultural competence to then be able to educate children on the same and advocate for cultural respect within the community (NSW Government, 2021).

Strategies to be Culturally Inclusive

At Thrive, cultural inclusion is a key part of our philosophy. We believe every individual is important and their cultural identity must be respected and celebrated.

Our Thrive teams are consolidated by many educators who identify with a diverse cultural background, and we believe this strengthens our approach to cultural education.

At our Thrives centers you will see us demonstrating cultural competence through teaching practices and curriculum provision, with some most prominent examples being;

Artwork and pictures which is representative of culture
Belonging spaces
Labels for children
Languages spoken
Music listened to
Culturally sensitive resources
(Akhlagh, 2022).

Pedagogical approach to Cultural Inclusion

One key aspect of Thrive’s approach to cultural competence is to ensure cultural education is not tokenistic, and therefore in doing so we believe children should learn through culture as opposed to learning about culture. This pedagogical strategy involves educators integrating culture into the curriculum opposed to segregating it. Rather than teaching children about culture in a set environment such as a group time or formal learning experience, children interact within environments and the curriculum having opportunities to explore culture both formally and informally. Cultural resources are integrated within all spaces rather than being in their own segregated areas. Educators then apply pedagogical practices holistically all the time to ensure cultural education is occurring. This is our approach to cultural education ensuring we are being inclusive of culture all the time.

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Cultural diversity: Census. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/cultural-diversity-census/latest-release

Akhlagh, S.B. (2022, March 8). Promoting cultural competence in early childhood. Early Childhood Australia. https://thespoke.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/promoting-cultural-competence-early-childhood/

NSW Government. (2021 September, 29). For All Children: Embedding cultural diversity in early childhood education.

RASMINSKY, B. (2020). Valuing Diversity: Developing a Deeper Understanding of All Young Children’s Behavior. NAEYC.